Month: November 2015

Post navigation

It occurred to me the other day that we’ve been on this island longer than we’ve been anywhere for the past eight years. There’s no denying that Nico and I both have restless spirits, just like there’s no denying we feel rather antsy having-been semi-rooted for more than two years. In so many ways, we are the same…he and I.

What is so-very different about us is that we have opposite beliefs on how we should spend our individual time while we’re sitting still and not on the road. My husband believes we shouldn’t get too comfortable, nor should we involve ourselves too much in our surroundings; since we won’t be sticking around for long. –At least that’s the usual plan.

I believe we should live each day to the fullest, and enjoy what is available for the making…for the taking. I am a social person, although I’m very picky about the friends I make and the folks I allow into my space…or my life. But most of all, my love for Mother Earth and gardening won’t let me sit in one place for an entire growing season and not grow something.

That said, I have become re-acquainted with preserving my harvest this year. For the past two growing seasons, I’ve been getting to know my new sub-tropical climate; getting to know what I can…or cannot grow here. Both seasons, I’ve had a lot of luck with tomatoes. Squash or cukes of any variety? –Not so much!

This year, having a bumper crop of tomatoes, poblanos, banana peppers, gypsy peps, and a ton of foraged citrus (fallen from trees around the island, and left to rot)…I decided to get back to one of my favorite things in this world — canning my harvest.

And while my husband sees no purpose in growing and preserving, I know in my heart…in my spirit, that–like the birds, squirrels, and wild life around us– us human-folk must also reap what we sow. Squirreling away my ‘nuts’ for the winter, or a day when we are in need, is the right thing to do.

Growing and foraging our food should be second-nature for us humans. But in so many ways, humanity has lost touch with nature…and true survival. For anyone who has ever read Euell Gibbons’ books on foraging, you quickly come to realize…the more you read, just how much we’re all missing by not being one with nature; in touch and in the mix.

Instinctually, with the voices of my ancestors speaking to me in so many ways, I cannot help but grow and preserve, forage and store, the riches Mother Earth and Mother Ocean offer-up for the picking, gathering, hunting or catching. Being the descendant of nomadic peoples, it is only natural for me to be like the wild ones; for the survival of my tribe, no matter where we may wander or roam.